March Read: Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince

Hey everyone! I’m back with my book review for March. This one is on the Lamplighter Sir Malcolm and the Missing Prince by Sidney Baldwin. I’ve heard really good things about this one, even by people who don’t normally like Lamplighter’s style, and because it sounded similar to one of my favorite WIPs, this book has been on my to-read list for a long time.

As always, my content review comes first, then my personal. There may be spoilers, so read at your own risk.

The Synopsis (Taken from Goodreads)

Young Prince Hubert is incorrigible, unmanageable, and tiresomely demanding. What is the good King to do? How will his selfish Prince ever learn to rule the kingdom well? His most trusted friend, Sir Malcolm, has a plan. Prince Hubert is swept away to a land where he is simply known as Hugh, a peasant boy. His silks are replaced with rough work clothes, his castle dwelling with a humble cottage. It is here that Hugh learns valuable life lessons from the widow of the forest.

Content Review:

Positive Messages: As this is a character based book, much of the positive messages come from Hugh’s character arch. Initially a spoiled brat, his first inkling of wanting to change is when he hears about himself as Hugh, and how the common people and even some of his father’s own men look at him.

Sir Malcolm approaches the king and gets his permission to help teach the young prince to learn better. He watches after him as they journey, but doesn’t let him rule him as the boy is accustomed to doing to everyone around him.

On their journey, a girl named Ellie gives Hugh some milk. In gratitude, he gives her a piece of gold as a necklace. Later, another girl gives Hugh a pastry.

Sir Malcolm takes Hugh to stay with an old lady, Dame Martha, who kindly takes him in, despite his attitudes at first. Eventually Hugh comes to love her and helps her out. He brings her flowers, and when given the opportunity to work at a much nicer place, more similar to his old life, he refuses because he wants to thank Dame Martha for what she’s done for him.

Hugh’s closest friend, Denny, teaches him how to chop wood and encourages him. Later, they both guard Dame Martha’s goods on the street as they’re traveling to a market. At the market, Hugh helps Denny sell his wares.

When the town begins to hurt under an oppressive rule, Hugh is angry, not because of the unfair ruling, but because it’s hurting Dame Martha. He suggests going to the king, and eventually, the townspeople agree, and Denny and Dame Martha travel with him to court. As the travel is hard on Dame Martha, several people in the villages they pass are kind to her, and both boys look after her.

In the end, Hugh reunites with his father, gets the villagers their rights back, and rules justly, now much more mature than when he left. Sir Malcolm approaches him afterwards and asks his forgiveness for being so harsh with him when he was younger–Hugh forgives him.

Rating: 5/5

Spiritual Messages: Though no direct spiritual messages were in this book, the Christian principles in this are unmistakable, especially of how a Christian should behave, whether a child or not. Standing up for righteousness despite the personal harm it may cause, caring for widows and the elderly, respecting others and working hard are all the various messages in this story and tie in well with the Christian faith.

Rating: 5/5

Romantic Content: There isn’t much romantic content in this book since Hugh and his friends are only ten to twelve years old for the entirety of the book. Hugh’s friend Denny thinks a noble-girl is pretty. When he’s almost thirteen, he meets Ellie and clearly develops a crush on her, helping her with her work and bringing back a bracelet for her.

Rating: 5/5

Violence: Hugh is hit once by a much older, hot-tempered man. He is also whipped once, leaving a bloody mark on his legs.

Rating: 4.75/5

Language: None!

Rating: 5/5

Other Negative Content: Most of the other negative content is the way the spoiled prince acts before he learns better, which reinforces the positive messages and main theme of the story, so I won’t go into all that.

Some kids laugh at and mock Hugh as he’s trying to get accustomed to his new life, and for thinking he’s a prince. For his part, he mocks hard work, being accustomed to always being served, and for awhile, let’s Dame Martha do all the work despite her advanced age and doesn’t think to help her. A man hits him for mocking hard work.

Of course, at the beginning, Hugh is very spoiled. However, this is in part because his father dotes on him and seems to have a hard time disciplining him, causing Sir Malcolm to have to step in.

Hugh’s initial view of the peasantry is that they should serve those above them unequivocally, regardless of how those above them treat them, and rules in favor of his friends, rather than ruling truly justly. This obviously changes by the end.

An evil governor left in charge of the villages around where Hugh and Dame Martha are staying treats the people cruelly, not letting them have enough wood or food to eat and destroying what little livelihood they have left. His men also harass and harm some of the villagers.

Rating: 4.5/5

Total Content Rating: 4.88/5 Stars

Personal Review:

This is a super cute Lamplighter story, and probably one of my top ten! Of course, I enjoyed the employment of my favorite trope, when nobility are forced to hide their identity for some reason or another and adapt to a new life (which I call the Hidden Nobility Trope). And I liked all the great character-building lessons, the medieval vibes, the lack of romance, the characters themselves, etc. I highly recommend it!

It was interesting too how it showed that it was his peers who initially got Hugh to change, not his authorities, but it was his authorities (Dame Martha) who got him to stay changed. Sort of a refreshing twist, since so often in literature, peers are shown as dragging someone down the wrong path instead of to the right ones.

My only disappointment was I felt the title was misleading. I was expecting/hoping Sir Malcolm would be the major mentor in Hugh’s life, based off the title. Instead, it was more like a mixture of Denny and Dame Martha, to the point where I thought the title should’ve been Dame Martha and the Missing Prince. Sir Malcolm literally was seen at the very beginning, then the very end. The bulk of the story, he was absent. Which disappointed me because I love seeing the outwardly cold knight calmly and patiently teaching the spoiled brat some lessons because they really do care for them. But oh well, I guess that’s what I have my own story for!

Personal Rating: 4.75 stars

Have you read this book? Do you want to read it? Do you know of any stories with the Hidden Nobility Trope in them? What about stories with a cold knight teaching a spoiled brat to learn better? Are you writing anything like this? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading! ~ Kay Adelin